


Acts of Barbarism

by TheIttyBitty



Series: Company [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefly Fusion, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Companion Dean, Companions, M/M, Reunions, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 13:54:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7055197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIttyBitty/pseuds/TheIttyBitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel Collins has been missing his twin sister for years, but when she finally shows back up, everything goes to hell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Acts of Barbarism

**Author's Note:**

> It's a short part, I know. I probably should have done this story as chapters instead of parts tbh, but oh well.  
> There's no sex in this part, which is probably why it's so short, but it's important to the story. The "no sex" thing won't become a habit, don't worry. They'll have plenty more later on!
> 
>  
> 
>  **WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER:**  
>  \- Mentions of past sexual abuse (vague)
> 
>  **GLOSSARY**  
>  \- Companions are a little bit like escorts, but I'm basing them off of the [Companions from Firefly/Serenity](http://firefly.wikia.com/wiki/Companion's_Guild). They are well-educated, trained, and well-respected.  
>   
> \- "Silver-Blood" is the term for someone who has magic. They can be distinguished by silver markings that appear on the inside of their arms. Usually magic manifests at puberty, but occasionally it has to be forced out (by losing one's virginity). They are often in government, or other generally high-paying jobs  
>   
> \- The Alliance. The government, based heavily off of [ The Alliance from Firefly/Serenity](http://firefly.wikia.com/wiki/Union_of_Allied_Planets).  
>   
> \- The Core. The core planets, closest to the seat of Alliance. They have the cleanest planets, best food, most money, best support from the government. But they are also closest to the eye of the government, which not everyone thinks is a good thing.  
>   
> \- The Rim. The outer planets. Most of them are colonized by small groups of pioneers. Many of the outer planets are not doing well, do to atmosphere/lack of food/lack of law/etc. But many people find it a small price to pay to be so far from the watchful eye of The Alliance.

 

Castiel slips a pair of soft pants on very slowly, very deliberately, because once he finishes getting dressed he has to go into the living room, where his sister waits... and talk to her. Which, all right, it's something he's been wishing for since she left when they were sixteen. But now that she's here, right in the other room, he can't remember a single thing that he wanted to say to her, and he's feeling oddly numb. The only thing he can think is, _why is she here? Why now?_

Everything was going, well, smoothly. Things have actually been falling into place, with his apartment and his job and even Dean, and now Anna is here. He loves Anna, he really does. But, and he feels like the worst brother in the 'verse for thinking it, Anna makes things messy. It's not that she's a mess, exactly, it's just that everything in her immediate vicinity automatically  _becomes_ a mess. 

So yes, he's happy and relieved that she's safe, but he's also worried and feeling guilty about it. The whole thing is making him jittery and sick to his stomach.

From the bed, Dean watches him. His face gives nothing away, but he has a blanket wrapped tight around himself to cover his nudity, and he's twisting a corner in his hands.

Castiel takes a deep breath and buttons his pants.

“Okay.” He says, to Dean, and the room in general. “Here we go.”

“Hey,” Dean says to him. “Good luck.”

Castiel closes his eyes for a moment, then gives Dean a tight smile. “Thank you.”

He hesitates at the bedroom door, but only for a moment, and then he's stepping into the living room. It's sparse, there's one small couch and that's about his only furniture. The couch _was_ covered in work papers, but now it's covered in his sister, and the papers are on the floor. She's perched on one cushion, and when she sees him she pats the other invitingly.

He goes, of course, and sits down next to her.

“Anna.” He says.

“Castiel.” She says back.

He shakes his head, running a hand through his already-mussed hair. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you.” She says. “I was nearby for business and I thought... it might be nice.”

Castiel squints at her. “So you break into my apartment in the middle of the night and scare me and my guest half to death? You thought that was a good idea?”

Anna shrugs, unapologetic. “I might not have thought it through _all_ the way. Whatever. And so what? Looks like you could use a little shaking up.” She looks critically around his apartment.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Castiel bristles.

“Just looks like you're too comfortable here. You know you're not free, don't you? You know they're watching you?”

“Of course they're watching me.” Castiel rolls his eyes. “That's what the government _does_.”

“And you're _okay_ with it?”

“Of course i'm not okay with it.” Castiel sighs, unable to believe that he's arguing with his sister already after seeing her for the first time in years. Actually, he's not _that_ surprised. “But what to you want me to do, live on the streets to protest? You want me to do something else?”

“You're an idiot.” Says Anna, but then her shoulders slump. “I've missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Castiel says. Then, for the first time in years, he leans over and wraps his sister in a hug. She hugs back, and suddenly it's like they're children again. They're small, out with their parents somewhere in the black, everything is okay.

When she pulls back, Anna's eyes are wet, but still sharp. “You've really turned into a dick while I was gone.” She says.

Castiel can't tell if she's teasing or not, but knowing Anna, she's probably not. “I really don't think you have any right to comment on what's happened while you were gone.” He says, a little unkindly.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“You left.” He clarifies. “ _You_ left. You just-” He rubs a hand over his mouth roughly. “You just _left_ me. You think you get to just show up here after being gone _years_ with no explanation and tell me you don't like what I’ve become? Well, you don't, alright? You were the one who left because you got bored, so screw you.”

Anna stares at him for a long moment, and it looks like she's biting down on her tongue. Her eyes are angry, and a muscle is working in her jaw. She starts to say something, stops, clenches her fists on the couch cushion. “I didn't _get bored_.” She hisses, leaning toward him. “I got _scared_. Fuck you, this was a mistake.” She goes to stand, but Castiel reaches out and grabs her wrist.

“Don't.” He pleads.

“What do you want me to say? You want me to say I’m sorry for leaving?” She asks. “I'm not.”

“What were you afraid of?”

She looks away. “Nothing.”

“Tell me.” He implores. “Tell me why you left. Please?”

She looks at him, and it feels like she's looking inside of him, into his heart. She opens her mouth, then shuts it, then clears her throat. “I left because-” She swallows, takes a breath. “I left because Uncle Zach couldn't keep his hands to himself.” She says quickly.

Castiel feels his insides chill. He blinks slowly. She can't mean what he thinks. She can't. Please, god, don't let it be what he thinks.

“What?” He says.

“You heard me.” She doesn't look at him. She looks past him at the wall.

“No... he- he didn't... please tell me he didn't-”

“He did.”

“Fuck!” Castiel spits. This can't be right. It can't be. His sister, his baby sister. This can't be right. He feels sick to his stomach.

“Yep.”

“I let this happen.” Castiel realizes. “I- I didn't realize- how did I not see-”

“It's not your fault.” Anna interrupts him. “You couldn’t have known.”

“I should have.” Castiel rakes his hands through his hair frantically. “I should have seen it.”

“It's history.” Anna says tightly. “And it's not why I’m here.”

“But I-”

“It's not about you.” Anna tells him. “What happened has nothing to do with you, and I _don't_ want to talk about it.”

Castiel closes his mouth and looks at his sister for a long moment, swallowing the anger and bile rising in his throat. He'd wanted to know, and now he knows. He can't un-know, no matter how much he wishes he could.

Or maybe he doesn't wish that, he realizes. This _isn't_ about him, this is about his sister, and she told him this information so that he'd know why she left.

He takes a deep breath, squares his shoulders, and says, “So, um. How- how have you been?” It comes out kind of shaky, but that can't be helped.

Beside him, Anna relaxes back into the couch cushions. “Been good.” She tells him. “Been traveling.”

“Traveling?”

She grins at him, although her smile is a little empty. “I've been all over. Got a job on a Chang'e class transport ship. I can go anywhere I want now, nobody tells me what I can and can't do.”

Castiel frowns. “What do you even do aboard a transport ship?”

“I'm P.R.” She tells him. “Which basically just means that when we dock I have to get us passengers.”

“Sounds glamorous.” Castiel says dryly.

“Shut up. I like it. It's not hard and I get to see the 'verse and get paid for it. It's a good gig.”

Castiel leans back and lets out a long breath. “I'm glad you're okay.” He says.

“Better than I was here, at any rate.”

They sit in silence, Castiel looking at her, trying to see inside her head. He's still feeling sick to his stomach, and he's trying not to think about why she left.

“I can't just let it go.” He says after a while.

“Yes, you can.”

“He can't just get away with this. He needs to _pay_.”

Anna shakes her head. “Dragging up this shit won't do anybody any good.”

Castiel disagrees, but he shuts up anyway.

They spend the next hour and a half fighting, hugging, and reminiscing. Castiel has a lot of conflicting feelings, but he does his best to suppress them for her sake. Because Anna doesn't like to talk about her feelings, she was always slightly more taciturn in that regard. Castiel was always the secret crier, Anna always more likely to light things on fire than admit she's upset.

By the time she leaves, the sun is streaming in through the windows, and Castiel can't stop yawning.

“I'm going to be around for a week.” She tells him, standing in the doorway. “Can I visit again?”

“Can you come at a normal hour?”

“Eh, we'll see.”

“Just don't sneak in again. Next time you might see something traumatizing.”

Anna pretends to gag, but then leans in and gives Castiel a kiss on the cheek. “See ya.”

Castiel watches her go, stares after her long after she's gone into the elevator and disappeared. He stands there holding the door and feeling numb for what feels like hours, but could be minutes.

Finally, he closes the door and goes back to his bedroom, where Dean is sleeping soundly, sprawled out among the covers.

Castiel crawls in beside him, snuggles up to Dean's side, and loses all of his carefully crafted composure. Dean wakes to Castiel sobbing onto his chest, and takes it rather gracefully.

“Hey,” Dean says softly, wrapping an arm around Castiel's side. “Hey, sweetheart, what's wrong?”

Castiel shakes his head and buries his face into Dean's shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Dean asks, voice laced with concern. “Are you hurt?”

“Not hurt.” Castiel sniffles. “I just- just-” He breaks down again, arms wrapped around Dean, getting tears all over his chiseled chest.

Dean pulls him closer, rubbing his hands over Castiel's arms, pressing soft kisses to Castiel's wet eyelids. “I got you.” He says. “It's alright, it's alright, I’ve got you.”

He stays quiet after that, just mumbling soothing sounds and kissing Castiel's temples and hair. He waits until Castiel seems to have calmed down before he asks again. “Are you alright?”

Castiel shakes his head, but doesn't start crying again. “I found out why my sister left.” He whispers, willing himself to hold it together.

Dean brushes Castiel's hair back from his face. “You want to talk about it?”

Castiel shakes his head. “I don't think she wants people to know.” He closes his eyes for a moment. “But it's- it's something I could have stopped. I could’ve-”

“Hey,” Dean interrupts him, tipping Castiel's face up toward him. “It's not your fault.”

“You don't know-”

“I know it's not your fault.” Dean says firmly. “Whatever it is that happened... you didn't know, right?”

Castiel nods.

“Then that's it. There's nothing you could have done.”

Castiel shakes his head, sick to his stomach again, and before he knows it he's crying again. “I should have paid more attention.” He admits. “I was so wrapped up in school I was barely around. I could have done something, but I was so self-centered that I didn't even realize anything was wrong.”

“Don't do this to yourself.” Dean pleads. “It's not going to help anyone.”

“But she's my sister.” Castiel says quietly. “I'm supposed to keep her safe. We're supposed to keep each other safe. And I let her down.”

To this, Dean says nothing, just pets Castiel's hair gently. Eventually, Castiel falls asleep, snoring softly against Dean's chest.

 

Okay, so maybe Castiel has been booking Dean more than normal this week. Every day, actually. In fact, Dean has just been _staying_ at Castiel's apartment.

Castiel is aware that it's a huge expenditure, that he really shouldn't be spending so much money, but he feels like he needs this. He wants Dean in bed beside him when he falls asleep and when he wakes up, and the sex helps him fall asleep. Anna keeps coming by and, while Castiel loves seeing her, when she leaves he feels guilty and empty. It doesn't go away completely, but it definitely helps when Dean climbs into his lap and rides him until he can't think of anything else.

Dean cooks for him too, makes sure he eats. When Castiel gets back from work, Dean is there, making his apartment feel like a home instead of just a box where Castiel spends his nights.

He's aware that it can't last, but he just wants this week. Just this one week, and things can go back to normal.

 

-o-

 

Domestic bliss is not something Dean has ever thought to want for himself. Sure, he often does domestic things for his clients, but if he's being completely honest Dean has always had an easier time with the sex than anything else. Sex is easy, relatively simple, and a great workout. It's easy for him to separate it from feelings, always has been. It's a job, plain and simple. A job he's really, really good at, but a job nonetheless.

He can't remember what he'd been thinking when Castiel asked him to come stay at his apartment for a week, but he should have said no. He should have said, “no, thank you, but I have other clients.” but he didn't. Because he's an idiot.

He likes it too much, is the problem. He likes waking up with Castiel's arms around him in a big apartment, feeling Castiel's mouth at the back of his neck. The whole place smells like scented candles and Castiel, and Dean loves it.

It's a huge, massive problem, made worse by the fact that he can _feel_ himself slipping out of his professionalism. He's getting _used_ to it, which is just about the worst thing that could possibly happen.

He's seen Castiel's sister a few more times too, and he's not sure exactly what happened with her, but by extent of Castiel's distress he thinks he has a good idea what it might have been. She'd figured out that he's a Companion almost immediately, and doesn't seem happy about it, but she hasn't been overly rude.

He has to remind himself over and over that this is going to end soon, but he always forgets when they lay back-to-front on the couch and watch movies together, when they shower together and Castiel kisses him slow and deep and it's not just sex, it's intimacy, and it's a real problem.

 

He's in Castiel's kitchen cooking dinner, waiting for the man to get home from work. Really, he should have been back a half-hour ago, but Dean isn't worried. Things happen, and anyway it's not any of his business. Castiel could stay out all night if he wanted to, and I wouldn't matter to Dean one bit, despite the fact that Dean _has_ been cooking for an hour.

He hears the door open and close a few minutes later, and he calls out, “I'm in the kitchen!”

He expects to hear a greeting back, but there's nothing, and he doesn't hear any more footsteps. After about a minute, Dean is starting to get concerned. He turn the stove on low and and moves the kitchen doorway look out into the apartment.

Castiel is there, standing in the middle of the living room with his back to Dean. Something definitely seems off though, he's standing so stiffly, and he doesn't have his suit jacket on.

Dean just stands there for a moment, inexplicably afraid. “Cas?” He calls after a while.

Castiel starts and turns, and Dean takes a step back.

Castiel is covered in blood, all down his arms and on his hands, over his shirt, pants, shoes.

Dean gathers himself and moves forward. “Holy shit!” He says. “Are you okay?”

Castiel looks up at him then, eyes somehow both empty and terrified. “It's not my blood.” He whispers.

Dean stops, inches away. He's not sure what to do, what to say. Oddly enough, this has never come up before.

“Who...” Dean swallows, taking what he hopes in an unnoticeable step backward. “Who's blood is it?” He asks.

Castiel looks down at his hands, then back up, mouth opening and closing like a fish's. “I... my uncle's.” He looks surprised at himself. “It's my uncle's.”

“Your uncle?”

“... He's dead.” Castiel says, furrowing his brow. “I...” He looks down at his hands, clenches them into fists, and watches sparks dance across his knuckles. “He had to pay.”

Dean stands as still as he can, tries to make his breathing quiet. “What did he have to pay for, Cas?”

Castiel looks at him again, and this time he seems present. He looks sad, so very sad. “He hurt my sister.” Castiel explains. “Bad.”

“Ah.” Dean breathes, relaxing minutely. This he understands, because if anyone ever hurt Sam, they'd probably be in about the same state as Castiel's uncle. “What are you going to do?”

“I don't know.” Castiel says, running a blood-stained hand over his face, smearing red over his cheek. “Oh god, I don't know!”

“Alright, it's okay.” Dean says, stepping closer before he realizes what he's doing. He reaches out and puts his hand on Castiel's shoulder, and the man leans into it. “We'll figure this out.”

Castiel blinks at him, then surges forward and throws his arms around Dean. They stand like that, Castiel getting blood all over Dean's clothes, Dean wondering how the _fuck_ he just got himself involved in a murder, and why he doesn't care more.

**Author's Note:**

>  _Murder?!?!?!_  
>  do you guys think uncle zach deserved it?
> 
>  
> 
> Kudos and comments are the sun and water that keep me alive and growing, and if you leave any I will love you forever!
> 
> My tumblr is [here](https://deanlightful.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Love you guys, thanks for reading!  
> Hugs,  
> \- Grace


End file.
